The conclusion of framework agreements at European company level is a relatively new phenomenon which has gained momentum over the past decade, as an increasing number of European Works Councils (EWCs) moved beyond the information and consultation function foreseen in the EWC Directive. This new negotiating role of EWCs confronts trade unions with the twofold challenge to prevent syndicalist tendencies and to secure the primacy of trade unions as collective bargaining actors. Focusing on developments in the metalworking sector, this article examines the content and the implementation of the European Metalworkers’ Federation’s mandating procedure as the so far most far-reaching attempt by trade unions to maintain or regain control over negotiating activities at European company level. Based on an analysis of the negotiating process in four companies the article concludes that the application of the mandating procedure is heavily shaped by customs and practices of company-level and cross-company industrial relations in the company’s home country and that the application of the mandating procedure can be expected to be more successful the more trade unions foster close cooperation among those actors responsible for negotiating policy and thus encourage an understanding among both lay and full-time officials of the necessity of such a procedure.

This article is based on a comprehensive investigation of the organization and policies of all 12 European industry federations (EIFs) since the beginning of the 1990s. The focus in the present analysis lies on the evolution of the tasks, governance capacity and functions of the EIFs in the areas of company policy and collective bargaining -areas which traditionally belong to the 'core business' of the national-level trade unions. The empirical analysis demonstrates that, since the early 1990s, the European industry federations have -despite a longstanding lack of resources -proven able to develop from providing forums for the exchange of information to becoming platforms for the definition of binding guidelines and minimum standards. This expansion of their functional competence, which reflects the growing willingness of their national affiliates to be drawn into and committed by transnational coordination processes, has also led to more differentiated organizational and political structures within the European federations. Ré suméCet article est basé sur une vaste étude de l'organisation et des politiques de l'ensemble des 12 Fédérations syndicales européennes depuis le début des années 1990. La présente analyse Downloaded from est centrée sur l'évolution des tâches, de la capacité de gouvernance et des fonctions des Fédérations syndicales européennes dans les domaines de la politique d'entreprise et de la négociation collective -des domaines qui appartiennent traditionnellement au « métier de base » des syndicats au niveau national. L'analyse empirique démontre que, depuis le début des années 1990, les Fédérations syndicales européennes ont été capables -malgré un manque chronique de ressources -de se développer en passant du stade de forums pour l'échange des informations à celui de plates-formes pour la définition de lignes directrices contraignantes et de normes minimales. Cette expansion de leurs compétences fonctionnelles, qui reflète la volonté croissante de leurs affiliés nationaux d'être impliqués dans les processus de coordination transnationale, a également conduit à des structures organisationnelles et politiques plus diversifiées au sein des fédérations européennes. ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag basiert auf einer umfassenden Untersuchung der Organisation und Politik aller 12 europäischen Branchengewerkschaftsverbände (EGV) seit Beginn der 1990er Jahre, wobei sich die hier unternommene Analyse auf die Entwicklung der Aufgabenstellungen, Steuerungskapazitäten und Funktionsprofile der EGV in den Bereichen der Konzern-und Tarifpolitik konzentriert, die traditionell zum 'Kerngeschäft' der nationalen Branchengewerkschaften gehören. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich die europäischen Gewerkschaftsverbände in beiden Bereichen trotz anhaltender Ressourcenprobleme von Foren des Informationsaustauschs Anfang der 1990er Jahre zu Orten der Festlegung verbindlicher Leitlinien und Mindeststandards entwickeln konnten. Diese Funktionserweiterung, die Ausdruck einer gestiegenen Bereitschaft der nationalen Mit...

No abstract

This article presents and discusses the findings of an empirical study of European Works Councils (EWCs) in the metalworking and chemical industries in the UK, Italy, France, and Germany. It focuses on four issues: internal communication networks; relations with company management; links between EWCs and national institutions for employee representation; and cooperation between EWCs and trade unions. The research indicates that EWC members are rapidly learning to handle and develop the mechanisms of this new body. In a significant number of cases, informal relations between EWC and management have become an established fact. In short, a distinctive European industrial relations system is developing at the micro-level. Whether this proves a threat or an opportunity for the trade unions will depend not least on their own strategies for Europeanization.

No abstract